Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to truck body systems for hauling aggregate materials such as, but not limited to, gravel, anti-skid, salt, cinders and aggregate. Particularly, disclosed is a horizontal ejection system within a truck body for particulate control, for example snow and ice road maintenance and treating applications, aggregate hauling and road paving and construction.
Description of the Related Art
State, local governments and contractors engaged in road maintenance, more specifically, snow and ice control, are seeking equipment solutions that do not raise up in the air like a standard dump body. These solutions are being sought to mitigate the risk of contact with overhead obstacles such as bridges or power lines while plowing and salting, paving and chipping, and to mitigate the risk of rolling trucks over when dumping on un-level ground or when loads stick in a traditional dump body causing it to become unstable. Presently, there are a number of solutions (combination bodies) on the market that mitigate this risk, such as center conveyor bodies, bodies that have built in augers, etc. However, these solutions are typically high priced, require significant maintenance and can be very costly to repair.
Horizontal load-ejecting vehicles, i.e. in which the load-engaging element is movable parallel to the load-supporting element (bed) are known the art. The pushers are moved by rams actuated by fluid pressure. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,273,728 to Kelso is a rear unloading box. U.S. Pat. No. 3,349,931 is also a telescoping unloading truck. More state-of-the-art systems add to the standard push-ram systems by varying their truck bed floors and beds (U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,804), speed controls (U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,933), and actuation assemblies (U.S. Pat. No. 7,878,751). For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,878,751 the tailgate actuation assembly is linked and unlinked from the ejector and responds to movement of the ejector blade.
The above horizontal ejection systems are geared toward the dump truck industry, in which heavy loads are merely dumped from the beds of the vehicles in a relatively uncontrolled fashion since the object is merely to empty the truck body of its contents, typically all at one time. Accordingly, the control systems are suited for this purpose, more so than an application which requires a more controlled environment, such as a truck which is being used to spread road particulate for construction applications or snow and ice control. Such material handling and ejection requires not only more control features, but also features that can be automated so as not to distract the operator who not only must be driving the vehicle, but controlling the amount of material being ejected.